


Meet Me At The Bar

by Kallonimo



Series: Shakarian Shorts [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Bar in Heaven, Control Ending, Established Relationship, F/M, Post-Mass Effect 3, no beta we die like jenkins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:49:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26790934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kallonimo/pseuds/Kallonimo
Summary: Shepard waits for Garrus, at the bar.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Series: Shakarian Shorts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980094
Comments: 20
Kudos: 43





	Meet Me At The Bar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HalRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalRose/gifts).



> Can't believe I've never done a bar in heaven before, but I kind just woke up wanting to write one. So I put this together.

She wakes up on a beach. Shepard sits bolt upright, gasping and struggling for air until she realizes there’s no reason to struggle. She remembers her body being torn apart but doesn’t know why. She slowly runs her hands over her arms, her shoulders, her head. Her hair feels longer than it should be.

“Shepard. Arrived. Early as expected. Still had hoped you would take longer.”

Shepard turns to see Mordin standing over her. How...oh. “Am I dead?”

“Yes,” he crouches down next to her. “Did you end the war?”

“I think so...yeah I did.”

“Good.”

“He told me...Is there a bar anywhere around here?”, Shepard stands up and looks around. As far as she can see she is surrounded by beach. Black waves crash onto the shore. It’s littered with sea shells. 

“Just start walking in any direction. You will find where you want to go.”

“You almost sound like an oracle, Mordin.”

He chuckles. “Not an oracle, Shepard. Scientist. Who are you meeting?”

“Garrus.”

“Ah, yes. Vakarian. Not here yet. Would be tragic if he was.”

“Yeah”, Shepard breathes in slowly, tasting the salty air. “What are you doing around here?”

Mordin presents her with an arm full of sea shells. “Running tests.”

-

Mordin was right about finding the bar. He sends her on her way after she helps him gather a few more sea shells, giving her one of the most “promising” ones. “In case you get bored.”

Shepard walks for what feels like an hour, until she sees a familiar staircase. It leads her up to the Silver Coast Casino Bar. The room is empty, except for a figure sitting at a nearby table.

“Hello Thane.”

“Shepard,” he nods. “Hoped I wouldn’t see you as early.”

“That’s what Mordin said.”, she sits down across from him. “What are you doing at the bar?”

“I was waiting to greet you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Do not thank me”, Thane replies. “Just tell me...how is my son?”

Shepard smiles. “Last time I saw him, we held a memorial service for you. He was dedicated to get more research done on your condition.”

“You don’t know what happened to him after that?”

“There wasn’t much after that. The...if he isn’t already here, he escaped the worst. The Citadel...a lot of people died there in the end.”

“I see.”, Thane nods. “Thank you, Shepard.”

“Don’t thank me.”

Thane laughs. A rare, weird sound, then rises from his seat. Shepard notices only now that he looks different than he did in life. Younger. Healthier. “I will get back to my wife then.”

“Give her my best.”

“I will.”

-

Ash saunters in, looking just like she remembers her. Shepard almost jumps out of her chair. “Ashley! I’m so sorry. I…”

“Don’t apologize, Commander.”, she shakes her head. “You had to make a choice.”

Shepard stammers, trying to say something, but not quite knowing what. 

“And besides,”, Ashley shrugs. “It seems like you succeeded. All the recent arrivals I ask say you ended the war.”

“Huh”, Shepard doesn’t feel like she’s been in the bar very long, it never occurred to her to go out and question other people about the state of the earth. She is still waiting.

Ashley looks her up and down, assessing. “Is this how you died? Or did you revert back to a younger age? Time is weird here. I don’t know how long it’s been since I died.”

“A few years...I…”, Shepard looks down at her arms, making the same observations she made before, when she was sitting alone. All the scars that Cerberus removed are back, everything she got after being resurrected is gone. “I think I look like before I died. The first time. Before I was rebuild.”

“Before what?”

Shepard laughs. “Do you want the story of what happened after you left?”

“Oh yes, please.”, Ashley sits down at a table. There are two cocktails on it that definitely weren’t there a few seconds earlier. “Tell me everything.”

-

Shepard has just started telling Ashley about Rannoch when Kaidan walks in. He sees Ashley and freezes dead in his tracks. He looks just as pained and guilty as Shepard suspects she did. He also looks a little older than she remembers. Shepard wonders how long she’s been dead. 

“Ashley I…”

“Don’t apologize, Kaidan. Shepard already did and you have even less to be sorry for than her.”, Ashley waves her hand. “Just sit down and help her tell the rest of the story.”

Kaidan sits down next to Shepard, shooting her a questioning look. 

“I’ve been catching Ashley up on what happened after she died”, Shepard explains. “We’re just on Rannoch, but...can you tell us what happened after London?”

“Sure”, Kaidan nods.

“But you finish first”, Ashley says pointing at Shepard and sliding Kaidan another, suddenly materialized cocktail.

Shepard half laughs half sighs and goes on to tell the rest of her story, Kaidan now sometimes chiming in to add commentary or details. He later tells them how he died, about ten years after Shepard, on a routine Spectre mission.

“Guess I was just getting old”, he shrugs. 

“The rest of the Normandy Crew?”

“All still good, I think. Liara pretty much runs the galaxy now.”

Shepard laughs. “Yeah, that checks out.”

-

Ashley and Kaidan leave after some time, though they make ominous references to seeing Shepard again. She tells them she is still waiting for Garrus.

Tali is the next to enter. She squeals with happiness when she sees Shepard, hugging her tight. “It’s been so long!”

“Hey, Tali”, Shepard smiles hugging her back. “How’s the universe?”

“Doing better by the day.”

“Brilliant.”, she tries to hold back the question that has been burning on her tongue ever since Kaidan arrived and fails. “Garrus? How…”

“He’s okay. He’s okay.”, Tali quickly assures her, stepping back but leaving her hands on Shepard’s shoulders. “He was heartbroken, at first. And then he continued on your legacy. Turns out he’s a better diplomat than any of us would have thought.”

Shepard laughs. “He must have picked something up from me.”

“Most likely.”, Tali laughs “Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Already?”

“Yes”, her friend nods. “If I can just walk and end up wherever I want...I’ll see if my house is around here somewhere. Wait for my family.”

“Give them my best.”

Tali scoffs. “Just come visit some time.”

-

Vega just appears. Sitting in a barstool, his head resting on the counter. Shepard carefully walks up to him and pokes him in the shoulder. “Hey.”

He sits up with a start, just like she did ages ago on the beach. “Lola.”, James looks around. “Am I dreaming?”

“Afraid not.”

“Dead then.”, he slides out of his chair, surveying the surrounding. “About time I guess.”

“How long…”

“I was pushing 90, last I remember”, James looks at his hands, studying them. “I look different to you?”

“Yeah, about the same age when I knew you. Maybe a little older.”

“Nice”, he immediately flexes and Shepard can’t help but laugh. 

“You got anywhere you want to be?” 

“Yeah, I’d like to see Cortez and Joker, they around?”

“They’re dead?”

“Yeah, not everyone can be as old as me.”, James furrows his brows. “You didn’t see them yet?”

“No I haven’t really…”, Shepard looks around at the bar, she has become very familiar with it. “I’m waiting.”

“Right, Garrus.”, James nods “Guess the others went straight to the Normandy. Promise you’ll come once he arrives?”

“Sure.”

-

She doesn’t have to wait long after that. Shepard hears steps walking up the stairs to the bar and then he’s there. Garrus. Looking exactly like she remembers him. Smiling. “Hey.”

Shepard doesn’t even reply. She runs across the room wrapping her arms around him. Garrus hugs her back, pressing his face into her hair. “Hey”, she mumbles into his chest.

Garrus laughs, hugging her even tighter. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too”, Shepard knows she’s crying now. She pulls out of the embrace a little bit, only enough to pull Garrus down and kiss him. It still comes as naturally as breathing. 

He hums, resting his forehead against hers and Shepard places her hand on the left side of his face, still scarred, even now. “But thank you for taking your time.”

“I knew you’d kill me all over if I didn’t.”, Garrus replies. 

“Damn right, I would”, Shepard takes his hand. “I’m sick of this place. Let’s leave.”

-

The Normandy’s airlock opens with a familiar hiss. Shepard and Garrus walk in, hand in hand. Joker is already awaiting them, sitting comfortably in his pilot chair.

He turns around giving them a big grin. “Commander. Garrus.”, Joker slowly extends his arms. “Welcome home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :)


End file.
